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Hospice Month
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| Giving back: After using hospice services for her husband, Bonita-area resident June Vinall is now one of the caring people you may find answering the phones when calling the Charles Wm. Leighton Jr. Hospice in Willcox. (CAROL BROEDER/ARN) |
Hospice helps caregivers when loved ones are dying
By Carol Broeder/Arizona Range News
When Bonita resident June Vinall counts her blessings this Thanksgiving, no doubt hospice will be on that list.
She shows that gratitude weekly as a volunteer office worker Mondays at the Charles William Leighton, Jr. Hospice, Inc.
"I'm one of the hospice's biggest cheerleaders," said Vinall, whose husband Jim was a hospice patient for three months before dying in October 2007 at 79.
He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2003, at the age of 74.
"Had I known about hospice, I would have done it way sooner," she told the Range News recently.
In the Middle Ages, hospices offered shelter to weary travelers on their journeys. In modern times, hospices offer care to the terminally ill on their final journey, as well as support for their loved ones.
Services offered by the Willcox-based hospice include medical, nursing and pharmaceutical support as well as therapies and durable medical equipment.
Social services include pastoral support, volunteers, and homemakers.
Vinall knows first hand just how much that support means.
"The weight of the world is lifted when you talk to somebody from hospice and realize that they're going to come help you," she said.
Jim was receiving home healthcare for about a year and a half, but June was dealing with the Alzheimer's by herself.
About two years prior to his death, Jim had broken his hip and was in a Tucson rehab hospital for six weeks before being sent back home.
He had also been diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).
"Jim was very good," Vinall said about the man to whom she was married nearly 50 years.
"He could cowboy up and nobody knew anything was wrong with him."
His home healthcare nurse recognized that Jim was suffering from Alzheimer's "and finally called the doctor," she said.
"I could have called them myself a year or two before I did," Vinall said about hospice. "I just didn't know."
"Hospice is for anyone who's been diagnosed with a terminal illness," she said.
"They can live for a long, long time with Alzheimer's."
Vinall says that families may not realize just what hospice does.
"Her function (the home healthcare nurse) was to help Jim," she said. "But the hospice function is for the whole picture."
"They were supposed to be there for Jim and to make him comfortable, of course," Vinall said.
"But they were also taking care of me, which was just amazing to me."
"They base how often they come to your house entirely on your needs," said Vinall, adding, "They would always call before they came out and say, 'Can we make a grocery stop for you?'"
That meant the world to Vinall, who lives 20 miles out of town near Bonita.
"They helped Jim by calling in his prescriptions," she explained. "Every need you have is handled by hospice. They just took care of everything."
"There's nothing I had to do, really, by myself," said Vinall, adding, "They just did everything. I could have called them at two o'clock in the morning, and someone would be there instantly."
"Hospice would babysit for me up to four to six hours," she explained. "Before that, I had to take him with me if I had grocery shopping. Just to get my hair cut, I couldn't even do that."
"They handle everything," Vinall said. "They can medicate whatever the doctor has prescribed. Jim had been in bed for a long time, but he was comfortable. You could just tell."
And when the time came, Jim died at home surrounded by his loved ones.
"I could have had them (hospice) there, but I didn't. I had my family there," said Vinall, adding, "But one hour later, I called and they were there."
She also took advantage of grief support offered after her husband's death.
"They offer a grief support group for three or four people, or larger, for six or eight weeks," she said.
"It's a meeting once a week. It helped me just immensely. It sort of helps to know you're not the only person going through it."
"That whole first year I would get a phone call from Ronnie (Squyres)," she said.
"That went on for a whole year; then I felt it was payback time."
Hospice volunteers assist in a variety of settings, offering emotional support and companionship, respite for caregivers, errands, and light household tasks. There are also clerical roles available for volunteers.
If volunteers are not comfortable working directly with patients, they can help in the office, read to people, act as an interpreter, or play musical instruments.
"It took me about a year to be ready to do that," Vinall told the Range News. "I had worked in an office before, so I work in their office on Mondays. I figure I save them from hiring someone."
The Charles William Leighton, Jr. Hospice, Inc.was born of a dream Leighton had for hospice care in the Willcox area.
In 1996, Leighton, a former Mayor of Willcox, was fighting prostate cancer. When it became apparent a cure would not be possible, Leighton entered a hospice program that was in Willcox at the time.
He and his wife Mary soon learned that he would have to be taken to a facility in Tucson.
Leighton said he wanted a facility here, so that the terminally ill did not have to leave the area. So his family began efforts to raise money, such as a fund-raising roast held in Leighton's honor shortly before he died.
In 2001, the hospice Board of Directors made the unanimous decision to bring hospice service back to the community as soon as possible, while continuing to work on long-term goals.
Even after eight years of being available in the Willcox area, certain myths about hospice service persist.
"Some people think that hospice is a place you go," said Clinical Coordinator Sarah Purscell.
"We don't move people out of wherever home is for them. We come to them."
"People tend to feel better at home - in their beds, in their home with their loved ones, where they've got their dog with them," she explained.
"At a facility, they tend to feel infirm because they're not at home."
Another myth is that "hospice is for people with cancer," said Purscell, adding that hospice service covers many other terminal illnesses, such as "heart failure or organ failure of any kind, emphysema, failure to thrive (in the elderly), and Alzheimer's."
A third myth comes into play when people say, "'Oh, I don't think it's time for hospice yet," she said.
"I can't think of anything scarier than taking care of someone I love who is dying."
Many times, family members will think that the care is too personal for hospice to do, such as a wife bathing her husband, said Purscell.
"We teach her how to do it or we can do it ourselves," she said.
"Often times, once she sees that it is done with dignity and respect, she says, 'Oh, well, you can go ahead and do it.'"
While some hospice services, like bathing, are optional, "you have to have nursing and a social work visit once a month."
Nursing visits are made at least twice a week, but can be daily if necessary," said Purscell, adding that volunteer, family support, and pastoral services are examples of optional services.
"When somebody's ill, it always seems worse at night," she said.
"That's when families get scared the most. With hospice, they have the luxury of a trained nurse 24/7 on call for help with their needs. It makes a huge difference for them having someone they can call."
"We are local nurses," said Purscell. "We all live here. We have to look you in the face and know that we did the best job we could for you."
"People should be aware when they're in that situation," Vinall told the Range News.
"Some people think, 'Oh, my loved one's going to die,' and they get scared," she said.
"They should ask their doctor to call hospice, or just call hospice yourself. They're so gentle with you."
"The myth is that people can't afford hospice service, but it just doesn't cost you," said Vinall.
"They take you whether you have Medicare or not."
Purscell explains that people over 65 are eligible for Medicare, which pays 100 percent, and the hospice also accepts private insurance.
"We have never turned people away from our doors," she told the Range News.
"Caregivers try so hard and work so hard, they need to know that they don't have to," Vinall said.
"If they're feeling exhausted, the weight of the world is lifted off their shoulders. The hospice provides genuine, compassionate help."
"For us, it's an honor, and we want hospice available for us and for our families when the time comes," Purscell said.
Those wanting further information on the Charles Wm. Leighton, Jr., Hospice, Inc. and its services may contact them at (520) 384-5878.
November is National Hospice Month.
By Carol Broeder/Arizona Range News
When Bonita resident June Vinall counts her blessings this Thanksgiving, no doubt hospice will be on that list.
She shows that gratitude weekly as a volunteer office worker Mondays at the Charles William Leighton, Jr. Hospice, Inc.
"I'm one of the hospice's biggest cheerleaders," said Vinall, whose husband Jim was a hospice patient for three months before dying in October 2007 at 79.
He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2003, at the age of 74.
"Had I known about hospice, I would have done it way sooner," she told the Range News recently.
In the Middle Ages, hospices offered shelter to weary travelers on their journeys. In modern times, hospices offer care to the terminally ill on their final journey, as well as support for their loved ones.
Services offered by the Willcox-based hospice include medical, nursing and pharmaceutical support as well as therapies and durable medical equipment.
Social services include pastoral support, volunteers, and homemakers.
Vinall knows first hand just how much that support means.
"The weight of the world is lifted when you talk to somebody from hospice and realize that they're going to come help you," she said.
Jim was receiving home healthcare for about a year and a half, but June was dealing with the Alzheimer's by herself.
About two years prior to his death, Jim had broken his hip and was in a Tucson rehab hospital for six weeks before being sent back home.
He had also been diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).
"Jim was very good," Vinall said about the man to whom she was married nearly 50 years.
"He could cowboy up and nobody knew anything was wrong with him."
His home healthcare nurse recognized that Jim was suffering from Alzheimer's "and finally called the doctor," she said.
"I could have called them myself a year or two before I did," Vinall said about hospice. "I just didn't know."
"Hospice is for anyone who's been diagnosed with a terminal illness," she said.
"They can live for a long, long time with Alzheimer's."
Vinall says that families may not realize just what hospice does.
"Her function (the home healthcare nurse) was to help Jim," she said. "But the hospice function is for the whole picture."
"They were supposed to be there for Jim and to make him comfortable, of course," Vinall said.
"But they were also taking care of me, which was just amazing to me."
"They base how often they come to your house entirely on your needs," said Vinall, adding, "They would always call before they came out and say, 'Can we make a grocery stop for you?'"
That meant the world to Vinall, who lives 20 miles out of town near Bonita.
"They helped Jim by calling in his prescriptions," she explained. "Every need you have is handled by hospice. They just took care of everything."
"There's nothing I had to do, really, by myself," said Vinall, adding, "They just did everything. I could have called them at two o'clock in the morning, and someone would be there instantly."
"Hospice would babysit for me up to four to six hours," she explained. "Before that, I had to take him with me if I had grocery shopping. Just to get my hair cut, I couldn't even do that."
"They handle everything," Vinall said. "They can medicate whatever the doctor has prescribed. Jim had been in bed for a long time, but he was comfortable. You could just tell."
And when the time came, Jim died at home surrounded by his loved ones.
"I could have had them (hospice) there, but I didn't. I had my family there," said Vinall, adding, "But one hour later, I called and they were there."
She also took advantage of grief support offered after her husband's death.
"They offer a grief support group for three or four people, or larger, for six or eight weeks," she said.
"It's a meeting once a week. It helped me just immensely. It sort of helps to know you're not the only person going through it."
"That whole first year I would get a phone call from Ronnie (Squyres)," she said.
"That went on for a whole year; then I felt it was payback time."
Hospice volunteers assist in a variety of settings, offering emotional support and companionship, respite for caregivers, errands, and light household tasks. There are also clerical roles available for volunteers.
If volunteers are not comfortable working directly with patients, they can help in the office, read to people, act as an interpreter, or play musical instruments.
"It took me about a year to be ready to do that," Vinall told the Range News. "I had worked in an office before, so I work in their office on Mondays. I figure I save them from hiring someone."
The Charles William Leighton, Jr. Hospice, Inc.was born of a dream Leighton had for hospice care in the Willcox area.
In 1996, Leighton, a former Mayor of Willcox, was fighting prostate cancer. When it became apparent a cure would not be possible, Leighton entered a hospice program that was in Willcox at the time.
He and his wife Mary soon learned that he would have to be taken to a facility in Tucson.
Leighton said he wanted a facility here, so that the terminally ill did not have to leave the area. So his family began efforts to raise money, such as a fund-raising roast held in Leighton's honor shortly before he died.
In 2001, the hospice Board of Directors made the unanimous decision to bring hospice service back to the community as soon as possible, while continuing to work on long-term goals.
Even after eight years of being available in the Willcox area, certain myths about hospice service persist.
"Some people think that hospice is a place you go," said Clinical Coordinator Sarah Purscell.
"We don't move people out of wherever home is for them. We come to them."
"People tend to feel better at home - in their beds, in their home with their loved ones, where they've got their dog with them," she explained.
"At a facility, they tend to feel infirm because they're not at home."
Another myth is that "hospice is for people with cancer," said Purscell, adding that hospice service covers many other terminal illnesses, such as "heart failure or organ failure of any kind, emphysema, failure to thrive (in the elderly), and Alzheimer's."
A third myth comes into play when people say, "'Oh, I don't think it's time for hospice yet," she said.
"I can't think of anything scarier than taking care of someone I love who is dying."
Many times, family members will think that the care is too personal for hospice to do, such as a wife bathing her husband, said Purscell.
"We teach her how to do it or we can do it ourselves," she said.
"Often times, once she sees that it is done with dignity and respect, she says, 'Oh, well, you can go ahead and do it.'"
While some hospice services, like bathing, are optional, "you have to have nursing and a social work visit once a month."
Nursing visits are made at least twice a week, but can be daily if necessary," said Purscell, adding that volunteer, family support, and pastoral services are examples of optional services.
"When somebody's ill, it always seems worse at night," she said.
"That's when families get scared the most. With hospice, they have the luxury of a trained nurse 24/7 on call for help with their needs. It makes a huge difference for them having someone they can call."
"We are local nurses," said Purscell. "We all live here. We have to look you in the face and know that we did the best job we could for you."
"People should be aware when they're in that situation," Vinall told the Range News.
"Some people think, 'Oh, my loved one's going to die,' and they get scared," she said.
"They should ask their doctor to call hospice, or just call hospice yourself. They're so gentle with you."
"The myth is that people can't afford hospice service, but it just doesn't cost you," said Vinall.
"They take you whether you have Medicare or not."
Purscell explains that people over 65 are eligible for Medicare, which pays 100 percent, and the hospice also accepts private insurance.
"We have never turned people away from our doors," she told the Range News.
"Caregivers try so hard and work so hard, they need to know that they don't have to," Vinall said.
"If they're feeling exhausted, the weight of the world is lifted off their shoulders. The hospice provides genuine, compassionate help."
"For us, it's an honor, and we want hospice available for us and for our families when the time comes," Purscell said.
Those wanting further information on the Charles Wm. Leighton, Jr., Hospice, Inc. and its services may contact them at (520) 384-5878.
November is National Hospice Month.
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Patricia Riggs wrote on Nov 21, 2009 2:56 PM: